The present invention is directed to a cable having a cable core with a band or strip wrapped to enclose the core and the band being provided with tensile elements which are connected to the band in a mechanical firm fashion.
German Published Application No. 29 13 054 discloses a cable having a band which is wrapped around a core. The band or strip of the patent is formed of a double thickness of foil which encloses tensile elements imposed between the two layers. These tensile elements run or extend parallel to one longitudinal edge of the foil so that the longitudinal axis of the tensile elements proceeds parallel to the longitudinal axis of the band and the cable when the strip or band has been wrapped onto the cable with its longitudinal edges extending parallel to the axis of the cable.
The arrangement of the tensile elements in this way to extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cable or parallel to the edges of the band has the disadvantage that, when the cable is bent, its arc-inner zone is compressed because the length of the arc-outer zone is kept constant by the tensile elements which are fixed thereover for the entire arc so the dislocation of the neutral bending zone will occur. The average length of the cable is thus shortened during the bending. Given light waveguides, which are component parts of the cable, this compression can lead to a measurable increase in the attenuation of the light waveguides. In special instances, it can even lead to a fiber breakage.
The band, which has longitudinally embedded tensile elements, can be helically placed or wrapped around a cable core in order to avoid the above-mentioned disadvantage. However, the band and cladding are now more difficult to remove to gain access to the core.